Why are so many people on here ignorant of the pagan origins of Christian holy

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   MickSposted 12 years ago

   Why are so many people on here ignorant of the  pagan origins of Christian holy days and festivals?
   
   Every time a Christian holiday is due ther always seems  to be a lot of questions about its origin.  I can't believe the Christian church has done that good of a cover up job to leave so many in ignorance.

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   Jarnposted 12 years ago

   Them's fighting words! Seriously, I can't wait to see all the pissed off people who explode on this one.
   
   In all sincerity to the question, if not the aggressive wording, public schools don't even get American history right. Theological history is not often touched upon even in college. So ignorance is a base state which isn't really alleviated by society, what with organized religions being the only ones to step up to the pulpit and preach. Aside from that, faith can be a tricky thing to keep alive. Lots of people are quite happy to go about their lives believing that God has their back and everything will work out alright if they just keep working at it like God wants.
   
   To study the history of religion can often destabilize that belief, as happened in my case. The search for the truth can lead to the conclusion that no truth exists, and some people may not wish to risk it, accept it, or acknowledge it. It's their belief, after all. As long as they keep it to themselves, what's the harm? If knowledge does not free us, what's the point of leaving ignorance behind?

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   PJ Jonesposted 12 years ago

   What do you mean.."a cover up job?"  Just about everything we hold dear has a pagan origin.  We humans thrive on tradition. Our lives revolve around something to believe in.

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      MickSposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I know that PJ.  The cover up is apparent by the amount of people habitating this site that don't know the pagan origins of Christian celebrations.

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   Craig Suitsposted 12 years ago

   The Christian church along with all the others are a study in ignorance. Collectively, they don't know the truth any more than I do. 99% of humanity are followers for one reason or another. All it takes/took over the millenia is a few carismatic jokers with a good gift of gab and a large desire for fame, fortune, and authority and wallah! Houses of worship on every street corner on the planet the 99% literally throws money at every week.
   
   On a global basis, I can't think of anything less productive, less progressive, more dangerous in terms of all the religious wars organized religion causes, and flat out stupid to congregate every week or more and believe in some other human showman that has the theatrics and his or her line of BS down pretty damn well.
   You believe these people know the truth they preach. I ask you this: Where did they get this astounding knowledge from and why do each and every one of them differ so drastically?
   
   The Catholics put an 18 year old in collage, pound ancient and unproveable ancient dogma into his brain for a few years and when he gets out, he puts on a black robe, and expects people to kneel down before his, kiss his hand, and call him father. Are you people all crazy or is it me? Oh yeah I forgot, then he's put to work collecting your hard earned money for the next 60 years. Very little of which he gets to keep I might add.
   
   Please, no matter what religion you believe in, just ask for a little bit of proof. They will tell you it is for sure, but considering the lifetime of commitment and money you kick in, that's not a lot to ask is it?

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   Hestia DeVotoposted 12 years ago

   Christianity is one of the religions where one of the core focuses of the leadership is to make sure the masses stay controlled.  It was decided the best way to convert the "heathens" was to co-opt the Pagan celebrations (and many of the practices) and then once their own Christian history had been established, they sowed a lot of misinformation that used fear to reinforce the message they were broadcasting.
   
   It's not just leaving people in ignorance, but teaching them to be willfully ignorant, to actively reject any other belief or opinion (and sometimes even facts) which contradict the Christian doctrine.  The religious forums here are a clear illustration of that.

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   Old Empresarioposted 12 years ago

   That's just it--they're ignorant. But it's an interesting topic. Religion is an extension of culture. Thus, just because the name of the religion and some key theologies change with a newcomer, it does not mean that the nature of the traditional religion changes. It's the same with politics. Czarist Russia was a totalitarian state where a ruler had supreme power over serf-like peasants. When the Bolsheviks overthrew the Czar and the nation called itself "Communist", it was still a totalitarian state where a ruler had supreme power over serf-like peasants. If you'll forgive my saying this, when I see a Roman Catholic Mass, I know I am watching a pagan 2nd-Century Mithraic liturgy where only the words have changed. When I see Spanish speaking countries parading a likeness of the Virgin Mary, I know that I am watching Athena being celebrated. When I see Evangelical Christians dancing about and speaking gibberish, I know I am watching an old Celtic ritual of some sort. When I see the Eastern Christian liturgies of the Syriac or Chaldeans, I am seeing an ancient Jewish ceremony. There is a movement lately to get to the heart of all of these Holy Days where people are learning more and more about how X-Mas, Easter, and Halloween are conglomerates of various old pagan festivals with a dash of dull Christianity added. It is ironic that the more paganistic aspects of these holidays have overshadowed the Christian aspects.

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   CJ Sledgehammerposted 12 years ago

   A few years ago, the Pope announced that church traditions were on equal par with Biblical doctrine. And, I believe it is this kind of spiritual compromise that is plaguing the Christian church today.
   
   I am not a Catholic, in fact, I do not attend church at all anymore, but I have attended many denominations within "Christendom" and I can tell you there are very few Christians that even read their Bibles anymore - they seem to coast through each Sunday and just let it happen. They rarely talk about Godly things outside of church and they definately don't ask, knock, or seek God or the truth outside of Sunday school...except only sparingly.
   
   I think it was in the Book of Deuteronomy that the Almighty said that His children die because of their ignorance. The bottom line is that many Christians place tradition above the truth...it's easier, it's faster, it's funner, it feels better...and I'll just leave it at that.

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   Owl Ka Mystposted 12 years ago

   It's not just here, it's all over and every Xmas and Easter, this topic comes up. There is not much more that I can add that has not already been said. There is a lot in the Christian religion that is not taught. It is not a big suprise that people don't know these things. Ask a Christian what happened with their religion during the 75 years after the resurrection....

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   MickSposted 12 years ago

   Lots of interesting comments folks, thanks.
   I'm a great believer in free speach it is then with a heavy heart that I deleted one comment from someone who was not interested to answer the question but used the question as a sounding board for her (I believe it was female) own aggenda that went along the lines that the pagans appended their celebratons to Christian festivals, as I said, people ignorant of the origins.

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    Pedro Moralesposted 10 years ago

    The main theme of Christianity is salvation: through accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior one can obtain spiritual salvation.
    If you join a Christian denomination, or decide to remain in the one you were born, because you believe that your eternal life depends on it, it will be very hard that something like the pagan origins of Christian holydays cause much concern.
    I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, because of the way he lived. Also I believe that each one of us should become a son or daughter of God by becoming people of love. I do not believe in answers that are called mysteries of faith simply because there is no clear logical way of presenting it. Thus I do not believe in the physical resurrection, the return on the clouds, and many other teachings that contradict logic.
    How is this related to your question? People are ignorant because they prefer to be ignorant. It is much easier, less challenging to their faith. But as someone I love used to say: "there is not perfection in ignorance;" the answers are out there for anyone to find the if he/she wants to look for them.

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